Shawn Driscoll's Tech Blog

Stuff That Happened in the Past

Monday, January 13, 2014

Python 3 is not Python

There was a time when Python was mature enough as a language for me to leave other languages I didn't care for and program strictly in Python. There was a time when Python programming was fresh and fun, yada yada. A time when print was a statement and not a function. A time when all the more interesting modules were written for Python, etc etc.

That time was Python 2.5.

Now Python has regulated itself to being updated just for the sake of being updated, making it less compatible or interesting for those that enjoyed the programming language enough to leave other languages.

Python 2.5 is for the computer programmer.

Python 3.x is for the software developer.

It's an entirely different mindset that Python 3 users come from. It's a job now, rather than a hobby. It's a corporate regulation rather than a computer artist's tool. Python 2.5 follows the Zen of Python, while Python 3 does not.

If I had my way, Python 3 would be renamed to something else. Because it is a different language, I mean, different development solution. And it doesn't run Python 2.5 code. Period.